ASLA Survey: Biodiversity Becoming a Top Priority

ASLA has released the results of its first national survey on landscape architects' planning and design work focused on biodiversity. Nearly 300 landscape architects, designers, and landscape architecture educators in the U.S. responded to the survey in July 2024.

The survey found that 96 percent of landscape architects are familiar with the impacts of the biodiversity crisis. 45 percent have made biodiversity conservation a top priority of their practice and another 41 percent consider biodiversity as part of their organization's environmental ethos.

Landscape architects also identified a number of barriers limiting their ability to increase biodiversity. Top challenges include:

• A lack of:
  • Client demand
  • Public awareness
  • Financial resources
  • Native plant supply
  • Training for maintenance teams
• Policy and regulatory obstacles
• Increased development in natural areas

"This survey shows that a growing share of landscape architects are taking action on global biodiversity loss," said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen. "A majority of landscape architects are now designing nature-based solutions and incorporating native trees and plants with the goal of restoring ecosystems."

According to the survey, many landscape architects are leveraging projects to increase biodiversity and restore ecosystems. The five most common types of projects they plan and design to achieve biodiversity goals are:

• Green infrastructure - 49%
• Neighborhood parks - 41%
• Corridors, buffers, and greenways - 36%
• Conservation or ecological restoration - 36%
• Residential gardens and landscapes - 32%

The survey also found that landscape architects use a range of planning and design strategies to increase biodiversity, regardless of project type. The survey found the top five strategies are:

• Integrate nature-based design strategies into projects - 63%
• Use a large percentage of native plants - 62%
• Educate clients, partners, and stakeholders - 47%
• Identify eco-region, plant communities, and target species to tailor solutions through site analysis - 47%
• Use a rich and layered approach to planting - 38%

A minority of landscape architects are setting specific biodiversity net gain (BNG) targets in their projects. For example, a landscape architect can design a site to achieve a 10 percent net gain in biodiversity in comparison to existing conditions.

The survey found:

• 17 percent are setting targets to enhance ecosystem services, such as pollination, carbon sequestration, water purification, and flood regulation
• 16 percent are establishing targets for the creation or restoration of specific habitat types
• 13 percent aim to achieve a certain percentage increase in biodiversity compared to the pre-development baseline
• 11 percent set targets to improve ecological connectivity between habitats to facilitate wildlife movement and gene flow
• 9 percent set targets to enhance populations of specific species of conservation concern

See the full results of the survey

Upcoming:

• ASLA has organized a biodiversity track at the ASLA 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C., October 6-9. Media interested in registering can contact [email protected].
• Dr. Sohyun Park, ASLA, associate professor, University of Connecticut, will represent ASLA at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia, October 21 - November 1. In 2024, Dr. Park published a study supported by the ASLA Fund: Landscape Architecture Solutions to Biodiversity Loss. Contact [email protected] to interview Dr. Park.

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